It’s Okay To Not Be Okay

In today’s society I feel as though there’s a lot of pressure to constantly put on a happy front, even if that isn’t how we’re truly feeling. Any other emotion, whether that be sadness, anger or frustration, can be seen as a sign of weakness and something that we should hide rather than be open about. We want to put on a brave face and appear strong to others, when in fact we may feel the exact opposite.

I know that this is something that I’m guilty of myself.

Feeling sadness, frustration, anger or any other emotion is valid. At the end of the day, we’re all human with emotions and if you feel sad then that’s perfectly valid, just as it’s perfectly valid for you to feel elated. Whatever emotion you’re feeling, just know that it’s valid. Not only are all of these emotions valid, but expressing these emotions is okay too, as long as you’re not hurting yourself or others around you. If you’re not feeling okay then it’s okay to express this and open up about how you’re feeling.

Putting up a facade of happiness is exhausting.

I’ve always been the type of person to bottle up my emotions, which isn’t healthy may I add. It’s good to open up about the way that you’re feeling to someone that you feel comfortable with. Another thing that I would also like to emphasise is that it’s okay to cry. Crying makes you human at the end of the day, it is not a weakness. This is something that I’ve learnt for myself! Trust me when I say that opening up to people and crying makes you feel better afterwards, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time!

It’s okay to ask for help from others, it doesn’t make you weak.

If you need to take a step back from certain things within your life because you don’t feel great and you need time to recharge, then that’s perfectly okay. Do whatever you need to do, for your own wellbeing. I know that I’ve had to take a step back from certain things in my life for my own wellbeing.

Thanks for the reminder Ashleigh. I’m one of those people that beats myself up about not being okay from time to time, and that inevitably makes whatever problem I’m struggling with so much worse. It’s always nice to see people talking about mental health issues being normal, as there’s so much stigma surrounding them.

I wouldn’t say I keep my emotions bottled (in that I’m not dealing with them) but I do wear them very close to the chest and prefer to deal on my own. But I’ve gotten to a point where I can acknowledge to myself when I’m not okay and accept that feeling so I can manage it.

I think that’s a very important component to emotional intelligence, to be able to understand and manage your emotions, whatever they may be!